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If you listen to the guys from Meridian (again) then maybe it is.

In what may have simply been a fit of pique, the energy company has canned its planned Project Aqua hydro scheme and effectively said "don't blame us if power prices soar and there's a shortage when the natural gas runs out."

I've already written a couple of columns on this whole energy crisis issue and have suggested that perhaps we could use tidal power in areas like Auckland; we could push energy conservation a little harder; and that maybe even consider nuclear generation.

But there are other options...

It seems that NZ has a lot of coal, particularly in areas like the West Coast of the South Island.

Unfortunately, we can't burn this coal to create power because of our commitment to the Kyoto Protocol.

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Burning coal, you see, releases greenhouse gases and under they Kyoto agreement, that costs money.

But hang on -- according to reports I heard on Nat Rad this morning, our coal is being mined and burnt. Yes, we're exporting it to China and they're burning it there.

So really, what on earth is the environmental difference between *us* burning our own coal to keep ourselves warm and to keep the wheels of the economy ticking over -- and China burning it?

As I think I've mentioned before, I did all the math and drew up the designs for a small generation system suitable for harnessing wind and solar energy at a household level.

Costing about $5K-$8K, this system would provide virtually all the lighting and non-heating electrical power required by the average household -- with a 4-8 day reserve. Hot water heating could be significantly augmented by use of solar water heater, thus reducing or almost eliminating reliance on the grid.

Unfortunately, this type of decentralised generation is unlikely to ever gain favour with government or the other power companies -- after all, it would mean their own electricity sales would be slashed dramatically.

However, just as computers have shifted from monolithic mainframes dishing data out through a network to dumb terminals to systems where the computing is done at a local (desktop) level, I believe that power generation could benefit from the same approach.

Right now the power companies are saying that the future availability of electricity will be highly dependent on our ability to conserve power.

Well excuse me, but if they really want us to conserve power, they should revisit the way we're charged for our power.

Increase the per-unit charge and get rid of that outrageous line/supply charge.

Of course the power companies would be happy for us to conserve energy, they'll still be making a fortune from those fixed charges while we take cold showers and stumble about in the near-dark.

I don't mind paying for the energy I use, but I object paying a small fortune each month for nothing.

What worries me most of all is the fact that the population of the world (including NZ) seems oblivious to the fact that we're on the verge of a very significant global energy shortage.

Our own limited natural hydrocarbon reserves are being depleted very rapidly, OPEC are tightening the thumb screws and it's only a matter of time (some say a very short time) before the world's major oil-producing countries also start to run dry.

Can you imagine what will happen when the scarcity of crude oil forces the price up to four, five, or even ten times the current level?

Maybe it's time we placed an emphasis on making New Zealand totally energy self-sufficient?

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You can access the new forums over at aardvarkforums.co.nz

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